FY 18 Annual Report

Parks and Recreation CITY OF SPENCER, IOWA

2018

Departmental Highlights

The Parks and Recreation Department is responsible for the City's 16 parks, encompassing over 500 acres of land, 3 boulevard area, 15 miles of recreational trails, 12 tennis courts, 11 athletic fields and 7 playgrounds. In addition to the maintenance of the parks and related facilities, the Parks Department also oversees the Leach Park Campground and Spencer Family Aquatic Center. In FY 18, the department completed several capital projects and improvements throughout the entire park system. These project include new concrete under bleachers in Pederson Park, new park identification signs for North Park School, the completion of the North School trail from 10th Street West to 18th Street West, the beginning construction of the 18th Street Trail, a new outfield lighting system at Pederson Park, new shelter house at North School Park and the addition of air conditioning was installed in the enclosed shelter house at Leach Park. The Leach Park Campground is located in East Leach Park and sits along the Little Sioux River. There are 120 camping sites available with 30 amp electric and water service. The month of June was wet and the campground experienced severs flooding for a portion of the summer months. The lower portion of the campground was closed for a majority of the 2018 summer season. The Spencer Family Aquatic Center opened in 1997. The 240,000 gallon facility consists of a zero depth entry with handicap lift, 1 body slide, 1 tube slide, kids seal slide, spray bollards, mushroom fountain and sand playground area. Also available are shower facilities and a concession area. The City contracts with the Spencer Family YMCA to provide lifeguards and to act as general manager of the pool during the open season. Beginning with the 2018 operating season, the City was in charge of the concession operations. The daily staffing of the concession stand was included the YMCA operating contract.

Budget Review

Total expenditures for the Parks and Recreation department were $1,083,420.23 for FY 18, a decrease of $37,332.68 (-3.47%) compared to FY 17. The divisions of the Parks and Recreation Department include Parks, Campground and Aquatic Center. Their individual operating budgets have bene combined into one for this report. The overall decreases for the department occurred in the salaries, staff development, contractual services and commodities categories. The primary reason for lower salaries would be that outside departments did not do as much work for the Parks department that was then charged back to them in FY 18 compared opt FY 17. The city contracts with the Spencer Family YMCA to operate the aquatic center. Actual expenses for the YMCA were lower in FY 18. Full-time employees as well as the campground attendant are eligible for participation in IPERS. Part-time employees need to qualify for IPERS on an annual basis, therefore varying the actual contribution to IPERS. For FY 18, the contribution to IPERS was slightly down. Capital expenditures were relatively flat tin FY 18 compared to FY 17. Projects that were completed or were in progress at the end of FY 18 include several trial projects, including the W 18th Street trial, North Park trial connection and the Iowa Great Lakes trial, Phase II. Other projects include the Pederson Park lighting upgrades, park signage and other minor park improvements at various parks in the city. Overall the department expended 111.44% of its budget. Primary cause of the budget overage was due to transfers from the Park Reserve fund to the Capital Projects fund for capital projects. General operations of the department were below the budgeted amount.

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